A/N: It has been a long time since I have updated this story. To be honest with everyone I lost interest in this story. I was bored and was browsing and found my account and looked at the reviews. I was surprised that there were so many people who wanted an update on the story. This chapter was written as I got bored and I never uploaded it so I thought I would go ahead and post this. I'm going to think on this story a bit. I apologize for the long wait and for how short this chapter is.

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Riku sat on his small couch reading through the new healing spell book he secretly borrowed from Merlin. Sora wanted to wait until everyone returned to the house before leaving Radiant Garden but somehow Riku was able to convince Sora that it could be hours if not days before everyone returned to the small house. Since they returned to the islands he noticed that Zexion was secluding himself more than usual. He tried to confront the Nobody about why he was hiding from him but didn't get anything out of him other than a snarky remark about wanting to be left alone. After that conversation Riku decided to give Zexion his space and spend his time studying the healing spell he hoped would cure Zexion's eye. It would probably take a bit more studying to get a grasp on the complex spell but if he could pull it off he knew that it would be worth it.

The more he thought about it the more he wondered why he was doing this. It was possible that Zexion would be grateful to Riku if his eye was returned but that was a slim possibility. Odds were that Zexion would use his newly gained powers against him and escape. That would not be a good thing, Sora would probably find out what he was hiding and he would never find out what the alternative motive for the Organization was, but at this point he was beginning to doubt that Zexion knew what it was. He assume with the amount of information Zexion revealed about his past that he would have told Riku about the Organization. Then again it was the only reason that Riku was keeping Zexion alive, at least it used to be. Now he couldn't possibly kill Zexion, just the thought of Zexion leaving him dampened his spirits.

Riku read through the book one more time, the spell itself was not that complicated but it used magic from the heart to heal. His experiences with magic tended to rely on darkness and rage, never had he used spells that required him to care about the person. It was definitely going to be different and Riku doubted that he would even be able to preform the spell accurately. The book did not give any indication of what would happen if the spell went wrong, which he hoped meant that there was no negative outcome. He scratched his chin and he read through the spell once more.

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Zexion sat in the dimly lit attic. He was slouched forward, not from the small working space but rather because it was difficult to see what he was doing in the poor light. Despite the bad working conditions Zexion was rather pleased with the space he had found, as pleased a Nobody could be without feeling that is. He grabbed a bright stone and an Orichalcum, which was difficult to come across since Sora used the majority of the ones in existence to create his ultimate weapon. Item synthesis was much easier with a Moogle, but he did not have the luxury. He sighed as he began the long process of synthesis.

As the hours past Zexion labored on the potion, surprised that Riku had yet to attempt to find him. At least he assumed that Riku was not looking for him because it was quiet in the house. He wanted to hurry and begin forming the artificial heart that Vexen was pondering, however he could not rush into anything. He needed to test the potions that Vexen was beginning to create that would simulate feelings. Needless to say he was curious about what would happen when he took the potion, truth is he was losing the memories of having emotions. What little he remembered was brought back when he was watching Riku and the other humans on the island.

It was nearing nightfall before Zexion finished the potion, it needed to sit at least eight hours before it was drinkable. He was still surprised that he did not hear Riku, what was the boy doing. Before leaving the attic Zexion needed to stabilize the potion on a steady surface. The weather channel called for sever thunderstorms tonight and he wanted to make sure that if the storm shook the house that the potion would fall over and he would lose all his hard work. Gingerly he lifted the small vial of red liquid in his hands and scooted toward the innermost part of the attic. He placed a small cork on the vial and placed it in a box he had found in a corner of the room. Inside the box he placed newspaper that he stole from the living area when Riku was in the shower. It was not the perfect place but considering what Zexion had to work with it would do. Nodding in approval, Zexion scooted quietly to the drop down door. He lay flat down on the floor listening for any signs of Riku before opening the door and dropping the ladder.

Zexion hurried down the ladder as fast as his small frame would allow and quietly closed the door. Satisfied that Riku did not acknowledge him, he turned down the hallway. At the end of the hallway he could see Riku stretched out across the length of the couch, his legs dangling slightly off the edge. He looked rather comfortable except for the look of concentration on his face. Deciding to leave the boy alone, Zexion walked into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Zexion?" Riku asked, not looking up from his book.

"Yes." Zexion replied, opening a cabinet above his head. He glared at the shelves above him, he would have to stand on his tiptoes in order to reach the coffee cups. Why did houses have to be predigest against short people?

"Where were you?" Riku glanced up from his book, even though he couldn't see above the couch cushions in the position he was in.

"No where in particular."

Riku placed the book on the table across from him and slipped out of the couch. He walked into the kitchen and chuckled when he saw Zexion attempting to reach the coffee cups above him. It was so tempting to let the small boy continue to try, but he decided he ought to be nice and help him out. Riku walked over to Zexion, stood directly behind him and reached over to grab two cups. He handed one to Zexion with a smirk. "Here shorty."

"I do not need to be mocked." Zexion placed the cup on the counter and grabbed the steaming pot of coffee.

"Sorry, but I thought I should help." Riku shrugged and took the pot out of Zexion's hands. He poured the coffee into both cups, leaning slightly into Zexion to do so. He felt a jolt a pleasure as he brushed against Zexion, but shook the bad thoughts out of his mind as he stepped back to grab the creamer and sugar.

Zexion did not say anything but he noticed Riku's flushed appearance. Before Riku could add creamer and sugar into his coffee, Zexion grabbed them from his hand, noticing Riku's blush redden as their hands briefly touched.

Riku didn't know what to do with himself. He wanted to force these feelings out of his head and crunch them under his feet but he couldn't figure out how. Deciding it was probably best to stop thinking and start talking, Riku cleared his throat. "Zexion can I ask something?"

"You may inquire whatever you like, however, there is no guarantee that I will reply."

"Ok...First off why do you speak like that?" Riku asked, stirring his coffee with a teaspoon he fished out of the unorganized drawer. He was lucky if he did dishes, let alone put them away in their proper place. Occasionally Kairi would come over and organize his things for him is she got distracted while searching for something, but other than that he just tossed them anywhere he would later remember.

"Whatever do you mean? I speak properly, unlike the barbaric slang you call language."

"Wow, I guess you get that question a lot."

"Obviously."

"Ok my next question is if you could have your eye healed would you?" Riku asked, hoping for a direct honest answer. He wasn't sure how to go about this, he wanted to heal Zexion eye but if the Nobody preferred to leave it alone he wanted to keep the others wishes. A part of him wanted to surprise Zexion and do the spell while he was asleep but the Nobody may be angry at him for preforming a spell without his consent. Taking these thoughts into consideration, Riku deciding it was probably best to be direct about it and hope to get a direct answer.

Zexion merely blinked at Riku, he was not expecting this type of question. "I assume the obvious answer would be yes, I am weak and I daresay lost without my magic. Of course I realize that healing this scar is improbable."

"And what if I say I found a way?"

"I would say you are delirious. This scar can only be healed through the magic of the one who inflicted the scar up on me."

Riku motioned for Zexion to stay where he was and hurried into the living room. He grabbed the book he was studying and walked back into the room, flipping to find the page he needed. As he searched he could fear the faint sounds of rain knocking on the building. The storm was starting earlier than predicted, but the weather man had a tendency to be wrong. "In this book I have a spell that I think will work."

Zexion eyed Riku, did he not just hear what he said?

Once Riku found the page he walked up next to Zexion and showed him the spell. "I know you said that it had to be the same person to heal it but the replica is me. Vexen created him from me and he created that scar with a replica of Soul Eater, which is my Key Blade. I think this will work."

Zexion gently grasped the book and quickly read through the spell. It was simple, but it required a strong feeling toward the one who was being healed. "Your magic is developed through the darkness."

"I know, but I still think I can do it. At least let me try, come on what is the worst that can happen."

Zexion glanced up at Riku, did he really not understand the consequences this spell could have on a human. Of course he was not a human but a creation of the darkness, therefore, no real harm could be inflicted upon him. "In this case you make a valid argument, however, I ought to warn you to consider the consequences of spells in the future. Casting a spell on a human using the darkness as a base can cause the human to fall into the darkness themselves. Basically you will be introducing darkness into their hearts and they could become a heartless or a Nobody. Think before you act."

"Oh...I didn't think about that."

"It is important you understand the basics of dark magic."

Riku looked downcast. He chose the darkness and now he was stuck with it, would he really want to force that decision upon another? Now that Zexion was explaining the consequences he couldn't believe he used dark magic against Sora. Of course he was brainwashed at the time to follow Maleficent, that did not excuse his actions. He could have been responsible for turning Sora into a Heartless and creating Roxas, but luckily that was not the case. Sora stole his own heart to release Kairi's heart, but what would he have done if he caused Sora to turn into a being of darkness. He tried once when the darkness first entered Destiny Islands and he has regretted it ever since. Sora belonged to the light and that was his best virtue.

"This idea of yours does have a chance at success, even though the probability is slim." At these words Riku looked up and Zexion was able to see how depressed and hurt those eyes looked. "Tell me, why did you believe this particular spell would work?"

Riku blinked, was he getting lectured again? Of course Zexion would know about dark magic, his powers were pure dark magic that often took the form of illusions. A part of him wondered if Zexion would ever teach him how to better control the darkness and to better utilize it. The darkness was officially a part of him, there was no way to escape it and he had accepted that. Learning from Zexion could be beneficial. "Why I thought it would work? I assumed that the healing spell used magic from the heart and...um...I assumed that if I...well you know...had strong enough feelings then it would work."

Zexion could tell Riku was telling the truth by the embarrassed look on the other boys face. "In essence that is true. Think about what you told me, the spell uses magic from the heart. What lies in your heart?"

"What?" Riku asked, confused by the question. "You mean other than blood? Love and feelings are in a heart right?'

Zexion was marveled at how unsure Riku was, he assumed that the other boy was haughty and acted as thought he knew everything. This side of Riku was not something that the boy exposed often, at least from the small amount of time that he was forced to be around him. "You are correct, feelings and especially feelings of love come from the heart. This is why I have no feelings of my own. What I was expecting you to say is darkness. There is darkness in every heart, it is only a matter of bringing fourth that darkness. Within you, darkness exists in higher levels than it does in your average person. Your hearts contains a overwhelming percentage of darkness, therefore, if you use magic from your heart you are using the darkness. Using darkness to cure a spell created through the darkness on an evil being has a higher chance of success than if you were to heal using love and the light."

"So if Sora were to use this spell on you..."

"It would be a failure or I would die."

Riku glanced at the book, he didn't think of it that way. Would the same thing happen to him if Sora were to heal him using this spell. He doubted it since his entire being was not created through the darkness like Zexion's but he would have to look into it.

Zexion walked past Riku and into the living area, cradling his cup in his hands.

"Do you trust me not to kill you?" Riku asked as he watched Zexion settle himself into the couch.

"The only beings I have trust in are dead." Zexion replied. "I do not trust easily, it is difficult without emotion to trust."